For several decades, Amtrak’s iconic Sunset Limited crossed the entire continent on a glorious three-night odyssey between Los Angeles and Jacksonville, Florida. I did it once and it was a glorious ride. Then, in August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast causing billions of dollars of damage and wiping out great…
In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina hammered the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1800 people and causing $108 billion in damage. Included in that mess were many miles of track belonging to the CSX railroad that were washed out along the coast. That, of course, meant the cancellation of the New Orleans-to-Orlando segment of Amtrak’s…
There are some notable gaps in Amtrak’s long-distance routes that make taking the train from Point A to Point B inconvenient or expensive or both. The most obvious example is travel from New Orleans to Florida. This was a do-able trip until 2005 when Hurricane Katrina wiped out a lot of track east of New…
It has now been more than ten years since the Sunset Limited operated between New Orleans and Orlando. Back in 2005, Hurricane Katrina tore up a lot of the track east of New Orleans and even though it was repaired within months, Amtrak has never restored that portion of the Sunset’s route. In the…